Friday, December 1, 2023

'Zikr Allah' - I

 

“Alaa bizikrillahi tatmainnul qulub”--- Is it not in Zikr Allah (Remembrance of Allah) that the heart finds tranquillity? (13:29) 


A servant of Allah does not have the right to forget his real Benefactor. The favours and blessings which Allah pours upon us at each moment of our lives are so great that it would be impossible for us to count or compare it with other things. It is thus absolutely natural that we must turn towards our Benefactor and remember Him and thank Him for all the things which He has done and is doing for us. We must always show our gratefulness towards Him Who is The Most Generous Lord – that is, by doing Zikr Allah.

 

Verily, a sole verse of the Qur'an or a sole Hadith is sufficient to transform a sincere Muslim and lead him towards the practice of goodness, whereas even a cupboard full of books will not have any effect on a person which has no desire to change for the best. This makes us remember the fact that a donkey will never reap the benefits of books, even if it transports a multiple quantity of them on its back. On the contrary, these increase its burden, like Allah expound before us in the Holy Qur'an:

 

“… like the donkey carrying great works of literature.…” (Ch.62 V.6)

 

In the light of what I have told you, I will cite some Hadiths:

 

Hazrat Abu Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah the Almighty said: I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.” (Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)

 

Several points have been detailed in this Hadith.

 

1) Allah the Almighty reacts towards His servant in the way the latter thinks of Him and the degree of hope that he has in Allah.

 

Thus, a person must always remain hopeful to obtain the favours and blessings of Allah. He must always have an absolute faith in Allah whenever he is praying or doing His Zikr. He must never despair of the forgiveness and favour of Allah. It is a truth that we all are weak and have committed lots of sins and mistakes and thus we are liable to be punished for all these bad actions.

 

But one must never despair of the mercy of Allah, because it is possible that Allah, by His Immense Grace and Bounty can forgive us for all our sins. Allah the Almighty says in the Pure Qur'an:

 

“Allah does not forgive idolatry, but He forgives lesser offenses for whomever He wills.” (Ch.4 V.49)

 

But this does not mean that Allah the Almighty is obliged to forgive us. We must well understand that true faith lies between hope (of His forgiveness) and fear (of His punishment).

 

Once, Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) visited a young Sahabi (his companion) who would soon leave this world. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him about how he felt. So, his companion replied: “O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), I have hope in the favour and mercy of Allah and at the same time I am afraid (of His wrath) because of my sins.”

 

Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) told him: “When the heart of a believer is filled with these two feelings; hope and fear (of Allah), Allah the Almighty grants him that which he hopes and protects him from that which he fears.”

 

It is mentioned in a Hadith that the believer is he who considers his sins as great a burden as that of a mountain which is stumbling down upon him, while a transgressor is he who considers his sins just like one who easily wards off a fly when it comes to alight on him. In other words, he takes his sins as something normal, without much importance. Thus, this Hadith makes us understand that a person must always be afraid (of the punishment of Allah) because of his sins and at the same time he must have hope in the mercy of Allah.

 

Mu’az (May Allah be pleased with him) died as a martyr with the plague. When he was nearing the moment to leave this world, he used to lose consciousness quite often. Each time that he regained consciousness for a little moment, he used to say: “O Allah! You know that I love You; by Your Glory and Honour, You know that very well.” Just before, he signed his last breath, he said: “O death! I like to welcome you; you are a blessed guest but you have come in a time where there is nothing (to eat) in the house.” Then he said: “O Allah! You know very well that I have always feared You and today I am leaving this world with a great hope that You forgive me. O Allah! I love life, not for digging the earth or cultivating gardens, but instead only to remain thirsty in moments when it is very hot, to take patience in times of difficulties for the cause of Islam and to participate in such assemblies where the believers are reunited to absorb themselves in Your Zikr (Remembrance).” In some Hadiths, Allah said that He will fulfil the wishes of His servants according to the hope that they have in Him. 

 

2) The other point which is mentioned in the first Hadith is: “I am with him when he makes mention of Me.”

 

Allah is together with the believer who remembers Him and as long as the lips and tongue of this person continues to move and recite the name of Allah and remembers Him, Allah says: “I am with him”. In other words, Allah gives His special attention to the one who makes His Zikr, and thus pours down His blessings upon him as long as he remembers Him.

 

3) Another point mentioned in this Hadith is that: “I make mention of him in an assembly better than it.” In other words, Allah the Almighty mentions with pride the name of that person who remembers Him, in a much better and much more honourable assembly than that in which His servant has mentioned Him. Thus, it is for this reason that Allah praises him and shows pride for the remarkable actions of His servant who does not hesitate to remain attached to His worship and Zikr (Remembrance), even though he does not see Allah. Thus, what would happen if he really had seen Paradise; then how many more worship and Zikr of Allah he would have done?

 

4) The last point but not the least one which has been mentioned in this Hadith, is that if someone turns towards Allah and comes nearer and nearer to Him, Allah also will turn towards His servant and approach him more and more. “I go to him at speed” means that, the favours and blessings of Allah the Almighty will pour down upon him quickly and in abundance, whereby that servant of His increases all the more His worship and Zikr.

 

It has been reported in another Hadith that the person who has the following four qualities is really a blessed person both in this life and the Next World.

 

1. He has a tongue which is always engaged in Zikr Allah (Remembrance of Allah).

2. He has a heart filled with gratefulness.

3. He has a body which supports all difficulties.

4. She is a lady who does not betray the fidelity which she must have towards her husband, and she does not waste his money or properties.

 

Here the expression which has been used in this Hadith: “a tongue which is always engaged” (Ratab’ul Lisaan) means “abundance in Zikr Allah” and it means also “praising and glorifying someone excessively”. My personal opinion on this subject is that this expression can have another meaning which is much more straightforward. The truth is, that those people who have really found love know that just to utter the name of their beloved is enough to bring sweetness in the mouth, and this fact is a proof that we love Allah, whereby we find this love in His Remembrance. When there is no Zikr, this shows our detachment from Allah.

 

Abu Darda (May Allah be pleased with him) said that those people who have their tongues engaged in Zikr Allah will enter Paradise smiling.

 

From all that we have come to know about Zikr Allah, let us pray to Allah that He may always enable us to engage our tongues in Zikr Allah, Insha-Allah.

 

I end this first part of this sermon on Zikr Allah by praying to our Lord as thus:

“O Allah, enable us to sacrifice ourselves for Your sake; You are the Creator of this world, and it is You who have poured upon us Your unlimited favours at each moment of our lives.” Ameen, Summa Ameen.


----Extracts from Friday Sermon of 06 February 2009 delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.